National Museum of Denmark

Copenhagen, Denmark

The National Museum of Denmark (Nationalmuseet) is Denmark’s largest museum of cultural history, comprising the histories of Danish and foreign cultures, alike. The museum's main domicile is located a short distance from Strøget. It contains exhibits from around the world, from Greenland to South America.

The museum has a number of national commitments, particularly within the following key areas: archaeology, ethnology, numismatics, ethnography, natural science, conservation, communication, building antiquarian activities in connection with the churches of Denmark as well as the handling of the Danefæ (the National Treasures).

The museum covers 14,000 years of Danish history, from the reindeer-hunters of the Ice Age, Vikings and works of art created in praise of God in the Middle Ages, when the church played a huge role in Danish life. Danish coins from Viking times to the present and coins from ancient Rome and Greece, as well as examples of the coinage and currencies of other cultures are exhibited also. Furthermore the National Museum keeps Denmark’s largest and most varied collection of objects from the ancient cultures of Greece and Italy, the Near East and Egypt. For example, it holds a collection of objects that were retrieved during the Danish excavation of Tell Shemshara in Iraq in 1957. In addition to this, there are exhibits about who the Danish people are and were, stories of everyday life and special occasions, stories of the Danish state and nation, but most of all stories of different people’s lives in Denmark from 1560 to 2000.

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Details

Founded: 1807
Category: Museums in Denmark
Historical period: The Age of Enlightenment and Napoleonic Wars (Denmark)

Rating

4.5/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Brian (2 years ago)
Simply put, the best part of this museum was on the ground floor and three thirds of the first floor. After the Viking section, I felt the museum just filled in the rest of that floor with things just to fill it in. To be honest, I did not have the time for the second floor so I can’t speak too much on it. As for the prehistory floor (ground floor), it was probably the best collection of prehistory of a nation that I’ve ever seen. That floor alone was worth it and I was happy to have seen it. There were excavated graves of prehistory Danes and their bones associated with the graves. Numerous collections of tools, weapons, and old-age currency. Frankly, I loved this section more than any other part of the museum. If you just saw the ground floor only, you’d leave the museum happy.
Aisha Kadyrbaeva (2 years ago)
I really enjoyed my visit to the museum, many interesting and different sections of different period of Danish history. Very nice experience. Spent five hours there, but managed to see only half of the museum! Will come back!
Ioana Neagu (2 years ago)
If you are into history, but especially passionate about viking history, this is the place for you. I had the chance to see an exclusive exhibition about the vikings' life and the general history of Denmark from 1600s until now. It has many other different sections and I suggest you get ready to spend at least 3 hours here if you intend to see everything. The price to enter was 110 DKK. Definitely a must see.
Brisippus (2 years ago)
Really interesting museum and deceivingly large. We visited a few other museums that were specifically for Vikings, but this one has the best artifacts and info. There are also tons of other exhibits and things to see from all over the world and different time periods, but the Viking/Danish history portions were my favorite.
J Page (2 years ago)
I went there looking for souvenirs but when I spoke with the greeting I was quite interested in spending time seeing the displays. You can spend a day or less if you pick specific sections to view. Beautiful way to display history. I highly recommend taking time to see this museum. You will not be disappointed!
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